Do you ever feel like you didn’t know how much you needed something until you got it? In early June, Aaron, Ansel, and I spent a weekend with friends out on the Oregon coast. Our friend Zach was turning 40 and hosted a birthday weekend for a group of us at Rockaway beach in a… Continue reading Chocolate Almond Midnight (Vegan + Gluten Free)

There is the regular me who mostly makes sense, can listen to what you say, and interacts in the world as a fairly socially-acceptable human being. Then there is the Ikea me, who is in a trance, lost in time and space, and cannot answer basic questions about who she is or her surroundings. I… Continue reading Rhubarb Tart

For me, Mother’s Day really began at midnight last night. Ansel, who has been a pretty good sleeper for the past six months, was really wired and needed a whole lot of help going back to sleep after waking up in the middle of the night. I think I went into his room four separate… Continue reading Mother’s Day Pavlova with Berries

We all get obsessed with stuff, right? Right before I gave birth to Ansel, I was totally obsessed with books, documentaries, and movies about mountaineering. I re-watched The Summit enough to be able to start quoting it and I started to have some serious opinions about the best route up to the summit of K2 (I… Continue reading Ma Anand Sheela Cake

There’s this great line in the movie “What About Bob?” Bob is explaining why he and his ex-wife split up to his new psychologist: “There are two types of people in this world: Those who like Neil Diamond, and those who don’t. My ex-wife loves him.” I think the same is true about Cadbury creme eggs. People seem to love them or hate them.… Continue reading Cadbury Creme Egg Cake

We spent last weekend in Leavenworth, Washington, to celebrate my dad’s birthday. Do you know about the “Bavarian” village nestled in the Cascade mountains? Well you should, because they are the only place that I know of around here where it’s totally acceptable to have Christmas lights still up in March and where grown men… Continue reading Sachertorte in Leavenworth

For Aaron’s birthday, we decided to make the most out of the end of winter and take a snowshoeing trip up by Mt. Rainier last weekend. This seemed like a good idea. My extended family has a rustic (and by rustic I mean no running water or heat, although it does have electricity) at the… Continue reading Molasses Spice Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze and a Failure of a “Snowshoeing” Trip

I love Harry Potter, I love cakes, so naturally, I’ve made a butterbeer cake. Did you know there are a ton of butterbeer recipes out there? It’s a thing! Go Pinterest it! There are butterbeer cake and cupcake recipes everywhere! Some of them look sickly sweet: they contain butterscotch, loads of brown sugar, AND cream… Continue reading Butterbeer Cake